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arXiv:2305.06583 · Optica Quantum

Superconducting wide strip photon detector with high critical current bank structure

Masahiro Yabuno, Fumihiro China, Hirotaka Terai, Shigehito Miki

Published Sep 29, 2023• 20 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The single-photon detector is an essential technology in photonic quantum information science and technology. Large-scale photonic quantum computers and quantum networks inevitably require numerous high-performance single-photon detectors. Superconducting nanostrip single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) using around 100-nm-wide nanostrips are promising technologies with high detection efficiency, low dark count, and low jitter, but there has been room for evolution in terms of polarization dependence and productivity. Using wide strips with widths of tens of micrometers provides polarization-independent high detection efficiency and high-yield fabrication using high-throughput photolithography with submicron resolution. However, detecting photons with such wide strips has been challenging due to rapidly increasing intrinsic dark counts caused by the uneven distribution of the superconducting current in the strip. Here, we present a novel superconducting wide strip photon detector (SWSPD) with a high critical current bank (HCCB) structure. This new strip structure suppresses the intrinsic dark counts and provides highly efficient photon detection in the wide strips. We have simultaneously achieved a polarization-independent detection efficiency of over 78% for 1550-nm wavelength photons, a low dark count rate (DCR) of ∼80 cps, and a low jitter of 29.8 ps using a 20-µm-wide SWSPD with the HCCB structure. This result paves the way for a new class of photon detectors using ultra-wide superconducting strips. These photon detectors with excellent productivity and polarization-independent high detection performances would boost the advance of large-scale photonic quantum technologies.

DOI
10.1364/opticaq.497675

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The single-photon detector is an essential technology in photonic quantum information science and technology. Large-scale photonic quantum computers and quantum networks inevitably require numerous high-performance single-photon detectors. Superconducting nanostrip single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) using around 100-nm-wide nanostrips are promising technologies with high detection efficiency, low dark count, and low jitter, but there has been room for evolution in terms of polarization dependence and productivity. Using wide strips with widths of tens of micrometers provides polarization-independent high detection efficiency and high-yield fabrication using high-throughput photolithography with submicron resolution. However, detecting photons with such wide strips has been challenging due to rapidly increasing intrinsic dark counts caused by the uneven distribution of the superconducting current in the strip. Here, we present a novel superconducting wide strip photon detector (SWSPD) with a high critical current bank (HCCB) structure. This new strip structure suppresses the intrinsic dark counts and provides highly efficient photon detection in the wide strips. We have simultaneously achieved a polarization-independent detection efficiency of over 78% for 1550-nm wavelength photons, a low dark count rate (DCR) of ∼80 cps, and a low jitter of 29.8 ps using a 20-µm-wide SWSPD with the HCCB structure. This result paves the way for a new class of photon detectors using ultra-wide superconducting strips. These photon detectors with excellent productivity and polarization-independent high detection performances would boost the advance of large-scale photonic quantum technologies.
Superconducting strip photon detector is a promising technology for achieving high detection efficiency around the 2000 nm wavelength region where exciting applications are expected in fields ranging from quantum science to atmospheric physics. However, improving the single-photon sensitivity usually requires narrower nanostrips, which necessitates advanced fabrication technologies. We demonstrate high-efficiency single-photon detection at 2000 nm using a 20-μm-wide superconducting strip, which is approximately 200 times wider than conventional nanostrips. By combining a high critical current bank (HCCB) structure that improves the wide strip's single-photon sensitivity with an optical cavity structure designed for the 2000 nm wavelength band, we realize system detection efficiency of 70% with near-unity internal detection efficiency. These results provide a high-productivity approach for high-performance single-photon detector development for the 2000 nm band.
Generally, a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) is composed of wires with a typical width of ∼ 100 nm . Recent studies have found that superconducting strips with a micrometer-scale width can also detect single photons. Compared with the SNSPD covering the same area, the superconducting microstrip single-photon detector (SMSPD) has smaller kinetic inductance, higher working current, and lower requirements in fabrication accuracy, providing potential applications in the development of ultralarge active area detectors. However, the study of SMSPD is still in its infancy, and the realization of its high-performance and practical use remains an open question. This study demonstrates a NbN SMSPD with a nearly saturated system detection efficiency (SDE) of ∼ 92.2 % at a dark count rate of ∼ 200 cps , a polarization sensitivity of ∼ 1.03 , and a minimum timing jitter of ∼ 48 ps at the telecom wavelength of 1550 nm when coupled with a single-mode fiber and operated at 0.84 K. Furthermore, the detector’s SDE is over 70% when operated at a 2.1 K closed-cycle cryocooler.
Superconducting Single-Photon Detectors (SSPD) invented two decades ago have evolved to a mature technology and have become devices of choice in the advanced applications of quantum optics, such as quantum cryptography and optical quantum computing. In these applications SSPDs are coupled to single-mode fibers and feature almost unity detection efficiency, negligible dark counts, picosecond timing jitter and MHz photon count rate. Meanwhile, there are great many applications requiring coupling to multi-mode fibers or free space. `Classical’ SSPDs with 100-nm-wide superconducting strip and covering area of about 100 µm2 are not suitable for further scaling due to degradation of performance and low fabrication yield. Recently we have demonstrated single-photon counting in micron-wide superconducting bridges and strips. Here we present our approach to the realization of practical photon-counting detectors of large enough area to be efficiently coupled to multi-mode fibers or free space. The detector is either a meander or a spiral of 1-µm-wide strip covering an area of 50x50 µm2. Being operated at 1.7K temperature it demonstrates the saturated detection efficiency (i.e. limited by the absorption in the detector) up to 1550 nm wavelength, about 10 ns dead time and timing jitter in range 50-100 ps.
Abstract Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors (SNSPDs) are key building blocks for photonic quantum technologies due to their ability to detect single photons with ultra-high efficiency, low dark counts and fast temporal resolution. Superconducting materials exhibiting high uniformity, large absorption cross-section and atomic-scale thickness are desirable to extend single-photon detection from the near-infrared up to the terahertz regime, where existing material choices are especially constrained. Substrate independence would further open the way to integrating detectors onto functional materials and heterostructures, enhancing performance and enabling proximal readout of a wide range of individual excitations. Here, we pattern the prototypical two-dimensional superconductor niobium diselenide (NbSe 2 ) into few-layer nanowires less than 100 nm wide and demonstrate single-photon detection at 780 nm and 1550 nm. At the same time, the dark-count rate remains below 1 Hz up to the switching current and we achieve a timing jitter below 50 ps. We estimate via a diffusive hot-spot model that materials and geometric parameters would allow a theoretical cut-off wavelength in the millimetre range, assuming state-of-the-art device parameters. Our results open up routes toward quantum-limited detectors integrated into quantum-photonic circuits and quantum devices, with the potential for novel detection capabilities and unprecedented energy sensitivity.
Single photon detection technology is a frontier in the field of photon detection. As a newly developed technique, superconductor single photon detector (SSPD) has many attractive advantages such as wide response bandwidth, low noise, and fast speed. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate a high performance SSPD with large system efficiency and low dark count rate at infrared wavelengths. The devices structure, fabrication process and system performance are presented in details. For our SSPD, we achieve a system efficiency of 60% at 1550 nm with a dark count rate of 100 cps. The time jitter and the maximum repetition rate are also measured to be 46 ps and 50 MHz respectively.
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) provide high efficiency for detecting individual photons while keeping dark counts and timing jitter minimal. Besides superior detection performance over a broad optical bandwidth, compatibility with an integrated optical platform is a crucial requirement for applications in emerging quantum photonic technologies. Here we present SNSPDs embedded in nanophotonic integrated circuits which achieve internal quantum efficiencies close to unity at 1550 nm wavelength. This allows for the SNSPDs to be operated at bias currents far below the critical current where unwanted dark count events reach milli-Hz levels while on-chip detection efficiencies above 70% are maintained. The measured dark count rates correspond to noise-equivalent powers in the 10(-19) W/Hz(-1/2) range and the timing jitter is as low as 35 ps. Our detectors are fully scalable and interface directly with waveguide-based optical platforms.